Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Today's fortune: June 28, 2011

Today's fortune: Emotions can be sweet and sour, so can your meal.

It was bound to happen. For the first time during this project, I've received a fortune cookie that pertains specifically to the Chinese food meal the cookie is intended to be eaten after.

You can find pictures of these types of fortunes online all the time. Usually they say, "Eat more Chinese food." It's not surprising. Fortune cookies are, after all, essentially a cheap PR tool for the Chinese food industry.

In the spirit of literalness, I ate a breakfast consisting of Sour Skittles and mini chocolate donuts (healthy, right?), paid for with my most recent lottery winnings - which made it all the more sweet.


But there's a great life lesson in this fortune, too. Life is better when you have a combination of sour moments and sweet times.

I used to play this little-known computer game called "The Sims" (just kidding about the 'little-known' part - it's the most popular computer game of all time). The game is a life simulator - you build homes, families and neighborhoods, and you control the people, known as Sims, in those neighborhoods. Your Sims have to work to earn money. They also have to sleep to restore their energy, eat to fill their bellies, play games to stay entertained and pee to empty their bladders. No kidding.


If a Sim fails to do any of those things, life gets pretty darn sour, and some serious consequences occur - up to and including your character's death.

After playing for a while, I discovered a cheat code that could give your Sims all the money they would ever need. It was awesome - they could quit their jobs and live a life of leisure while I built mansions around them.

Then I discovered a cheat code that fulfilled all their needs - meaning they didn't have to eat, sleep or pee ever again.

The mansions were beautiful, my characters were loaded and perfectly content, and the game was completely ruined for me.

Those perfect little lives were boring. When everything was great for my Sims all the time, the sweetness of overcoming hardship faded.

That's true in real life, too. Without adversity, victory doesn't matter as much. Sourness makes sweet taste sweeter.

To celebrate the sweetness that is our life together, Jamie and I are eating Chinese takeout tonight. My meal of choice? Sweet and sour chicken.

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